Breakdown of Verificăm nu numai frâna de serviciu, ci și frâna de mână.
a verifica
to check
nu numai … ci și
not only … but also
frâna de serviciu
the service brake
frâna de mână
the handbrake; parking brake
Questions & Answers about Verificăm nu numai frâna de serviciu, ci și frâna de mână.
What does verificăm mean grammatically?
Verificăm is the 1st person plural, present tense form of a verifica = to check / to inspect.
So it means we check, we are checking, or sometimes let’s check, depending on context.
The ending -ăm is a very common ending for we in many Romanian verbs:
- verific = I check
- verifici = you check
- verifică = he/she checks
- verificăm = we check
Why isn’t noi used? Shouldn’t Romanian say Noi verificăm?
Romanian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.
So:
- Verificăm already means we check
- Noi verificăm is possible, but it adds emphasis, something like we are the ones checking
In this sentence, noi would usually be unnecessary.
How does nu numai ..., ci și ... work?